Eurozone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Eurozone - Essay Example The eurozone is the subset of European Union member states, which have adopted the euro (Eurozone 2005). There are 12 member countries in the eurozone: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France (except pacific territories using CFP franc), Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain (Eurozone 2005). The rapid and smooth transition - and the successful logistical operation involving the transfer of billions of euro notes and coins to banks, retail stores, and vending machines - is a boost for the European Central Bank (ECB), which masterminded the operation (Schifferes 2002). When the 12 member states that currently comprise the eurozone gave up their currencies in favour of the euro, the European Central Bank took on the responsibility of monitoring monetary policy for the eurozone (Eurzone and the single currency 2005). Euro notes and coins is now being use by more than 300 million eurozone citizens. Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City also use the euro, although they are not officially euro members or members of the European Union (They previously used currencies that were replaced by the euro.) They now mint their own coins, with their own national symbols on the reverse. These countries use the euro by virtue of agreements concluded with European Union member states (Italy in the case of San Marino and Vatican City, France in the case of Monaco), on behalf of the European Community (Eurozone 2005). Likewise, Montenegro and Kosovo, which used to have the German mark as their de facto currency, also adopted the euro without having entered into any legal arrangements with the European Union explicitly permitting them to do so. They use the euro instead of the Serbian dinar, mainly for political reasons (Eurozone 2005).The other 13 countries of the European Union that do not use the euro are: Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the ten member states that joined the Union on 1 May 2004; namely Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Denmark and the United Kingdom got special derogations in the original Maastricht Treaty of the European Union. Both countries are not legally required to join the euro unless their governments decide otherwise, by either parliamentary vote or referendum (Eurozone 2005). Surrendering monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB) is an act of political will, and current members of the eurozone are still besieged with its economic consequences (Ezoneplus 2004). There are 31 nations, states and territories using the euro, including seven French and five Spanish overseas territories, two Balkan states, Kosovo and Montenegro, and strangely enough Cuba, where the Euro has been designated as the official currency at one of the biggest beach resorts. The rest of Cuba uses the Cuban peso, which is tied to the US dollar (Robinson 2002).Since the adoption of the single currency by the eurozone countries, there are wide variations in the economic performance of the individual states in the eurozone. There was supposed to be increased convergence of the economic cycles of individual eurozone as the euro stabilised. However, this did not come to past (Eurozone and the single currency 2005). Moreover, the eurozone economy is still greatly influenced by the per formance of the

Effective Team and Performance Management Essay - 2

Effective Team and Performance Management - Essay Example . Precisely, this discussion demonstrates personal and interpersonal awareness in addition to skill formation and development. The main reason for describing the personal and interpersonal awareness within a given team is to attempt explaining or creating an understanding of the effective management and performance of such groups. Effective team and performance management are the main epicenters of this discussion. In order to obtain the objective of the discussion, this paper is divided into three main parts excluding the introduction. The parts include reflection, alternative action, and overall learning. Reflection section of the discussion attempts to identify the key issues besides describing each of mentioned issues. In addition, the section provides an analysis of key issues involved while carrying out the activities of the team within the three contexts; investigating crime, lost on the moon, and egg challenge. Alternative action section identifies the recurring/overarching problems within the team whilst conducting its specific activities, avoidance of such problems, and impact of team members in ensuring that activities of team were effectively achieved. Lastly, the overall learning (conclusion) section identifies aspects learnt in the tasks and their relevance to future professional life. Team The team comprising of 6 members, 4 ladies and 2 gentlemen was formed on the basis of persons from different nationalities from Africa and Asia. Three main activities formed part of the seminar activities for purposes of understanding personal and interpersonal characteristics. The activities included lost on the moon, crime investigation in Park near Cambridge City Centre, and the egg flying contest. All these formed the seminar activities, which were aimed at evaluating effective management of teams or groups. Reflection During formation of the team of the four ladies and two gentlemen, I realized that there was so much potential not only in me but also other team members. Though anxious, I found it enjoyable and exciting to engage with people that were like strangers to me. Anxiety is one of the indicators within a person as described by Myers Briggs (Elwyn, Greenhalgh, and Mcfarlance, 2001, p.119). The first step was to introduce each other. In this process, team members wer e uneasy given the fact that they did not know each other. The idea of introduction to get to know each other was borrowed from Tuckman’s (1965) group forming stage. During the forming stage, Tuckman (1965) identifies that team members are always anxious due to being strangers. Other than problems of introduction, the team within its introduction stage had no clear specific individual roles and responsibilities, chain of command, and hierarchy of authority. What’s more, it is difficult to explicitly define roles and responsibilities of every member during the formation stage (Tuckman, 1965; Landale, 1999, p38). As Goleman (2002, p.253); Irvine et al (2002); and Kilman (1974) identify, there was a possibility of diversity conflict especially following that members of the team came from diverse backgrounds. The second activity within the formation stage involved identification of a team leader. Without a team leader, a group will not be spearheaded to the right direction since no one particular person will be responsible for initiating and directing activities

Persuading My parents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Persuading My parents - Essay Example I made my parents believe that they could respect and trust me. The central point in using ethos was to make my parents that I was worth listening to, that I could understand life. I made them understand that I had the same reasoning as they did. Additionally, I used Pathos to persuade to my parent’s emotions. The language I chose to address my parents, and the diction appealed to their emotions to let me have the freedom I felt I deserved. I made them become empathetic of my situation, thus helping them grant me the freedom to do as permitted by my age. I used emotional appeal (pathos) of my parents by appreciating the love and support they had shown me throughout my life. I told them that they were the most important people in my life. I could never have a better care. I added that I thanked God for the wonderful parents He enabled me to have. I said it was my sincere hope and daily wish that I would be able to inch close to the superior support parenting they had shown me to their grandchildren. It is their splendid upbringing that I cited to be the foundation of the strides I had so far made in my life. While appealing to my credibility, ethos, I made them aware that I had just turned 21 years. I did not claim to be too big for their care. I told them that I knew and would always acknowledge the significant role they held in my life. I told them that they would forever be the anchor upon which my life would be secured (The English Club, 2009). I, however, requested that thy grant me a little more freedom than I got at that time. As far as I knew, the seemingly over-protection they were showing me was because of their sincere love for me. I told them I understood that they did not wish that any ugly incident would happen to me. However, at that juncture, I wished to confirm to them that I would not get into much trouble if a little more freedom would be granted by staying away from trouble as much as I have always

Effective Team and Performance Management Essay - 2

Effective Team and Performance Management - Essay Example . Precisely, this discussion demonstrates personal and interpersonal awareness in addition to skill formation and development. The main reason for describing the personal and interpersonal awareness within a given team is to attempt explaining or creating an understanding of the effective management and performance of such groups. Effective team and performance management are the main epicenters of this discussion. In order to obtain the objective of the discussion, this paper is divided into three main parts excluding the introduction. The parts include reflection, alternative action, and overall learning. Reflection section of the discussion attempts to identify the key issues besides describing each of mentioned issues. In addition, the section provides an analysis of key issues involved while carrying out the activities of the team within the three contexts; investigating crime, lost on the moon, and egg challenge. Alternative action section identifies the recurring/overarching problems within the team whilst conducting its specific activities, avoidance of such problems, and impact of team members in ensuring that activities of team were effectively achieved. Lastly, the overall learning (conclusion) section identifies aspects learnt in the tasks and their relevance to future professional life. Team The team comprising of 6 members, 4 ladies and 2 gentlemen was formed on the basis of persons from different nationalities from Africa and Asia. Three main activities formed part of the seminar activities for purposes of understanding personal and interpersonal characteristics. The activities included lost on the moon, crime investigation in Park near Cambridge City Centre, and the egg flying contest. All these formed the seminar activities, which were aimed at evaluating effective management of teams or groups. Reflection During formation of the team of the four ladies and two gentlemen, I realized that there was so much potential not only in me but also other team members. Though anxious, I found it enjoyable and exciting to engage with people that were like strangers to me. Anxiety is one of the indicators within a person as described by Myers Briggs (Elwyn, Greenhalgh, and Mcfarlance, 2001, p.119). The first step was to introduce each other. In this process, team members wer e uneasy given the fact that they did not know each other. The idea of introduction to get to know each other was borrowed from Tuckman’s (1965) group forming stage. During the forming stage, Tuckman (1965) identifies that team members are always anxious due to being strangers. Other than problems of introduction, the team within its introduction stage had no clear specific individual roles and responsibilities, chain of command, and hierarchy of authority. What’s more, it is difficult to explicitly define roles and responsibilities of every member during the formation stage (Tuckman, 1965; Landale, 1999, p38). As Goleman (2002, p.253); Irvine et al (2002); and Kilman (1974) identify, there was a possibility of diversity conflict especially following that members of the team came from diverse backgrounds. The second activity within the formation stage involved identification of a team leader. Without a team leader, a group will not be spearheaded to the right direction since no one particular person will be responsible for initiating and directing activities

The Events of September 11 Attacks Research Paper

The Events of September 11 Attacks - Research Paper Example In Hamburg, most of the secondary planners and pilots became radical and better equipped to attack. In the morning of September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by 19 militants said to be mostly of the Saudi Arabia origin who subscribe to the ideals of Al Qaeda, undertook attacks targeting the US. They used four California-bound flights, taking control soon after their take-off. Some of the terrorists took charge of two commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center’s twin towers at about 8.45am. Another airliner was crashed into the Pentagon by another group of terrorists at 9.45am. Another group took charge of yet another commercial airliner that was headed to the White House, Washington DC but it crashed in Pennsylvania at 10.10am after the terrorists were overpowered by passengers. It is believed that the perpetrators were involved in a holy act aimed at killing as many westerners as possible considered to be enemies. The then President George W. Bush was shuttled around the country due to security concerns and was only back to the White House at about 7pm and addressed the nation and indeed the world at 9pm to restore confidence in America’s sovereignty. Operation Enduring Freedom was hatched to oust Taliban regime and destroy the terrorist network of Osama (Bodden, 2007). Arrival of first responders Immediately the World Trade Center, WTC was attacked, there was a concentrated response by emergency services. According to Flood (2011), over 100 emergency medical service, EMS units together with many dozens of private ambulances arrived at the site, setting up triage centers from where the injured would be ferried to hospitals. Over 2,000 Port Authority and NYPD police officers enforced security in the area, ransacked the twin towers and assisted in rescuing survivors. Being a five-alarm fire situation, 214 FDNY units, much more than the required 44 units responded to the emergency with 58 ladder trucks, 112 engines, seve n squad companies, five rescue companies, dozens of chiefs, four marine units and massive support, communication and command units. Unfortunately, many of these first responders were also killed in the process. Why the Attacks? The question of what caused the 9/11 attacks remains elusive but has been largely attributed to the failed foreign policy as was applied in the Middle East. According to Bodden (2007) and Seessel (2003), the US had attracted hostility due to its support for Israel, a Jewish state, to be established and sustained. The Palestinians had for over 60 years raised their plight of being homeless and brutalized but no one, not even the US paid attention to their woes. This support for Israel caused anger among Islamic nations thus causing the radical Islamists to call for the withdrawal of the US from the region. Other initiators of the attacks have been cited as the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia and the economic sanctions that were imposed against Iraq in 19 90. Therefore, Islamic fundamentalists called on supporters of radical Islam to declare war against the government and citizens of the US.

Social Media Marketing Impact on Consumer Behavior

Social Media Marketing Impact on Consumer Behavior In recent times, the term social media has emerged as a catchall expression (Zarrella, 108). It is a new form of marketing that concentrates on opening new horizons for marketers in order to promote a product or service. It differs from the conventional media as it mainly emphasizes on consumer generated content rules (Zarrella, 109). It incorporates the use of wide ranging applications that are based on Internet, which are based on the Web 2.0 technology. Consumer behavior is an important aspect of marketing as it assists marketers to devise strong and robust marketing strategies and techniques. For instance, organizations launch new products or services, which are generally bought by few customers in the initial phase and gradually, there is an increase in the users. It is essential for an organization to devise a strong and robust marketing strategy that would ensure commercial success. The satisfaction of initial consumers is dependent on the marketing strategy as their satisfaction and contentment would make an impact on the subsequent brand choices of the consumers. (Kim, Fiore, and Lee, 96) Today, organizations are employing social media technique in order to change consumers behavior and to win their loyalty. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of social media marketing on consumer behavior in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources (Kim, Fiore, and Lee, 97). Overview Social media marketing is the form of marketing which consists of internet based applications such as social networking sites, podcasts, blogs, microblogs, etc and have become part of the marketing strategy in order to promote a product or service, improve efficiency of the organization and to attain new customers. From research, it is evident that social media marketing has been adopted by different organization in order to target wider audience and to influence consumer behavior(Zarrella, 115). In the new era of marketing, organizations no longer depend on traditional forms of marketing in order to interact with the consumers. Similarly, consumers have power the raise their voices and opinions. The contemporary consumer can voice his or her opinion in a louder and clear manner as he or she has access to Twitter, Facebook, blogs, websites, microblogs, YouTube, etc. therefore, it has become necessary for companies to utilize social media marketing in order to change the way they conduct their business. Social media marketing plays an important and significant role in changing the buying behavior of the consumers. A study conducted by Kim, Fiore, and Lee , concentrated on studying the importance of social media marketing and its impact on consumer behavior (Kim, Fiore, and Lee, 99). The research demonstrated that more than fifty percent companies in the United States have adopted social media marketing in order to target new markets and to win new customers. The same research revealed that more than seventy percent of the users used social media in one form or another and it gave them the power and control to do things their way (Kim, Fiore, and Lee, 101). Study conducted by Chiang and Dholakia, concentrated on studying consumer behavior and social media marketing(Chiang and Dholakia, 177). For this purpose, three hundred participants were interviewed. Eighty percent of the users agreed that social media made an impact on their purchase decision. The same study revealed that users of social media are most likely to trust social media more as compared to traditional form of product advertisement and promotion (Chiang and Dholakia, 179). This clearly demonstrates that social media marketing plays an important role in influencing the purchase decisions of the users and therefore, it is important the company employs a strong and robust social media marketing strategy in order to win the loyalties of the new customers. Koufaris, Kambil, and Labarbera conducted a study, in which two hundred marketers were surveyed. Sixty percent of the marketers had employed social media marketing in order target and win new customers (Koufaris, Kambil, and Labarbera, 115). Their study demonstrated that the connection between social media marketing and consumer behavior is directly proportional (Koufaris, Kambil, and Labarbera, 120). A strong, well planned and well structured social media marketing strategy to promote a particular product or service is most likely to win the attention of the consumer. Social media marketing changes and influences the buying behavior of the consumer. The same study demonstrated that the chances of recommending a brand or product by means of social media marketing is higher as compared to traditional forms of marketing (Koufaris, Kambil, and Labarbera, 125). The study demonstrated that more than sixty percent of Facebook fans show the possibility of recommending the brand they use and more than fifty percent of the fans are most likely to buy the product. Conclusion Social media marketing is the contemporary style of marketing as it concentrates on opening new horizons for marketers in order to promote a product or service as compared to conventional media. In recent times, consumer behavior and satisfaction has become an important asset for any organization to attain its position in the market and to increase its profitability. For this purpose, organizations are employing social media technique. From research, it is evident that companies are employing social media marketing in order to interact with the consumers. Social media marketing has given organizations a new way of dealing and changing the buying behavior of the consumers. Work Cited Zarrella, Dan. The Social Media Marketing Book. OReilly Media, November 2009. Kim, Jihyun, Ann M. Fiore, and Hyun-Hwa Lee. Influences of online store perception, shopping enjoyment, and shopping involvement on consumer patronage behavior towards an online retailer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 14 (March 2007): 95-107. Chiang, Kuan-Pin and Ruby R. Dholakia. Factors Driving Consumer Intention to Shop Online: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Consumer Psychology 13 (2003): 177-183. Koufaris, Marios, Ajit Kambil, and Priscilla A. Labarbera. Consumer Behavior

Obesity in America :: Overweight Obese essays

Obesity today is a widely spread nutritional disorder that can affect anybody at any age across North America, majority of the reason being because there are so many fast food restaurants at just about every corner. With its low prices people are not going to be making the right decisions in what type of food they consume in their diet. Some examples of the junk food would be: Microwave dinners, snack foods like potato chips, which have high calories. It is not necessarily junk foods that make people obese and fat. Too many carbohydrates and foods with lots of starch in an individual’s diet can also cause them to gain undesired weight. It is not always someone’s dietary decision that makes him or her obese. Genetics play a monumental factor in a person’s weight. For example, if a child is born with two obese parents there is an 80 percent of a chance that the child can be born or become obese later in his or her life. Pregnancy can make the mother gain about 20 p ounds after giving birth. Another said cause of weight gain is when the energy intake is more then the energy outtake in the body. That is not always the case. â€Å"According to recent reports, more than six in 10 adults are overweight or obese, and the number of overweight children is on the rise.† Is a quote taken from the McDonalds website. Some other problems for obesity can also be a result as problems such as:  · Laziness- Inactivity resulting from a dislike of physical activity.  · Psychological depression- Sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy, causing them to sometimes over eat even they are not hungry  · Genetically- As stated above. When it is passed down a family line, making it almost inevitable for children to born obese. If you were to ask someone how it feels to be obese, the given reply would probably be that they feel unattractive, and have low self-esteem, which can cause an indirect mental illness. This mental illness in some cases may lead to the person becoming so down and depressed that they may make an attempt and sometimes be successful in committing suicide. Being obese puts the person at risk of developing sicknesses and diseases like, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes (type 2), and some forms of cancer (prostate, breast and bowel.) There is something similar but opposite to obesity.